In which Owen flirts with a doctor.
Today was a big day for both the Hesshenshaws and the Strelos.
For us, today marked our medical visit with Dr. Natalia (the blonde woman holding Owen in the pictures), who runs the adoption program at the maternity hospital in Kokshetau. It was our one time to get all the familial background available on Owen's birth parents and his health history since birth.
Robin came prepared with questions gleaned from her own brain and the collective wisdom of all the World Partners families who'd come before us.
Long story short, Owen seems to be a very healthy little boy. You might not walk away thinking that after the talk with Dr. Natalia, but fortunately our agency prepared us well for Russian custom.
In Russia (and all administrative functions in Kazakhstan-- including medical care-- follow Russian protocol), the act of being born is a traumatic, disabling experience for a baby which requires medical attention to correct. In addition healthy babies can't be adopted to foreign parents, so something has to be "wrong" with them physically. In fact, Robin and I will have to sign papers at court saying we understand Owen's health problems and want to adopt him anyway.
We were told Owen had tremors (our pre-study told us that Russians consider a baby's normal spastic motions to be "tremors," indicating defects), His mother also admitted to having smoked cigarettes and having drunk the occasional beer while pregnant. Dr. Natalia tells us that any baby whose mother admits to those things is essentially unadoptable by the locals in Kokshetau. They think there's simply too much risk.
Admittedly those things do present risk, but part of the WPA program required Robin and I to send all of the information we had to a domestic doctor with expertise on foreign adoption prior to accepting Owen's referral and coming to Kazakhstan. The doctor we chose, Dr. Bledsoe, is actually one of the foremost experts on international adoption from Russia in general and fetal alcohol syndrome specifically. She assured us that Owen does not suffer from this months ago. And Owen's very normal birth weight and growth since birth (he was just below the 50th percentile at referral) suggest the smoking had little impact as well. Owen weighs 15.4 pounds now and "stands" between 26 and 27 inches long. He fits into 3-6 month clothes perfectly right now.
Dr. Bledsoe did suggest we find out all we could about the mother's lifestyle, however. We were relieved and pleased to find that Owen was her third child-- all from the same father. His two sisters were born in 1990 and 1991 and still are part of the family. We don't know, but suspect, that they simply couldn't afford another mouth to feed. It's sad to think about for them, but we were happy to see that stability and what it meant for us and for Owen.
Dr. Natalia told us that the mother was a very calm and collected woman and that Owen is the same. She also told us that both the mother and the father are six feet tall! I imagine Robin and I'll be looking up at our son in about 14 years. (Or, sadly, less.)
More enjoyable, however, were the other things we learned about Owen's daily routine. He and the other babies listen to the radio or music all day long. Owen like Russian news (which explains his love for the language) and he and the other babies will only listen to the Beatles' music. "Baby Beatles," they said specifically. Robin and I don't know if that's a specific CD or just how they refer to Beatles music played for babies.
He has four nurses that he loves. You can see one, Lena, in the pictures. He won't go to the others. When I suggested to Dr. Natalia that Owen was choosy she smiled and said, "No, he's a man."
An aside: Our visit today was later than usual, in the afternoon instead of the morning. Lena told us Owen had been waiting for us. I imagine she says that to all the adoptive parents at some point, but it was fun to hear.
Dr. Natalia said the nurses divide the babies into two groups: Those they want to stay with them forever and those that need to be adopted out right away. Owen, she tells us, is in the first group. And, yes, I imagine she says that to everyone but we know she means it when she says it to us.
Inna asked her about his nickname and Dr. Natalia let us know that we hadn't heard "Vica" exactly right. It's actually "Vilka." The "L" is barely pronounced. (The way they say it sounds like VEYE-kah.) The Ministry of Education named him. Dr. Natalia had tried to convince them to name him Yuri after the first man in space.
All in all, a good, informative visit.
In Strelo-land, the day was shorter but even more momentous. Today the Strelos signed the final paperwork and received their sons' birth certificates. It's a quick process but it marks one of the last big hurdles in making it all real. They're on the home stretch. Wednesday they leave for Almaty for the final stages-- getting the boys' passports and clearance from the U.S. embassy.
In the meantime, we continue to search for ways to entertain ourselves and the boys. You can see from the pictures one of the games the Strelos made up: Baby Bowling. You set up the empty water balls as pins and, swinging the baby, kick the ball across the kitchen to knock them over.
You can also see the game Robin and I made up: Baby Chicken Fighting. Too bad Owen will be here by himself and we won't be able to play.
